Status
Available
Publication
HarperTeen (1998), 192 pages
Description
Maybe Mab was real. Maybe not. Maybe Mab was the fury. Maybe she was the courage. Maybe later on she was the sex . . . A tiny fairy winging her way through the jasmine-scented L.A. night. A little girl caught in a grown-up glitz-and-glitter world of superstars and supermodels. A too beautiful boy with a secret he can never share . . . From the author of Weetzie Bat comes a magical, mesmerizing tale of transformation. This is the story of Barbie Marks, who dreams of being the one behind the Cyclops eye of the camera, not the voiceless one in front of it; who longs to run away to New York City where she can be herself, not some barley flesh-and-blood version of the plastic doll she was named after. It is the story of Griffin Tyler, whose androgynous beauty hides the dark pain he holds inside. And finally it is the story of Mab, a pinkie-sized, magenta-haired, straight-talking fairy, who may or may not be real but who helps Barbie and Griffin uncover the strength beneath the pain, and who teaches that love--like a sparkling web of light spinning around our bodies and our souls--is what can heal even the deepest scars.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member xicanti
A young woman comes to terms with an horrific event from her childhood, with a little help from a pint-sized pixie named Mab.
I remember the first time I read this book. I started it right before bed. I read a big chunk, then tried to sleep. I just couldn't. I needed to finish the story; I needed to
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am in awe of Francesca Lia Block. In some ways, her writing is very simple. Her work has much in common with poetry; it's brief and concise, and each word is chosen with the utmost care. Her writing is often technically incorrect, but it's never less than evocative. It's a rare FLB novel indeed that doesn't leave me in tears.
Many of her books explore darker themes, and I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY is no exception. It deals with the effects of child sex abuse. The story itself isn't graphic; there's no gratuitous violence here, and Block plays nothing for shock value. Instead, she delves into Barbie's emotional state before and after the abuse occurs. She submerges us in Barbie's world and lets us see her life through her eyes. The result is an intense, emotional read that cuts into your very soul.
The story is beautifully layered; each piece adds to what's come before to create a deep, complex story that packs a huge wallop despite its brevity. So often, I'd find that some careful turn of phrase illuminated Barbie's situation in such a way that I was sobbing before I realized it. Barbie starts off in a dark place, yes, but there's still so much beauty in here. So much beauty, and so much hope.
I highly recommend this, but please keep in mind that it may be triggering for some readers.
(This review also appears on my blog, Stella Matutina, albeit in a slightly different form).
I remember the first time I read this book. I started it right before bed. I read a big chunk, then tried to sleep. I just couldn't. I needed to finish the story; I needed to
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see how things would play out for Barbie and Mab, Todd and Griffin. I got up, headed downstairs, and finished it. Then I cried my eyes out.I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am in awe of Francesca Lia Block. In some ways, her writing is very simple. Her work has much in common with poetry; it's brief and concise, and each word is chosen with the utmost care. Her writing is often technically incorrect, but it's never less than evocative. It's a rare FLB novel indeed that doesn't leave me in tears.
Many of her books explore darker themes, and I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY is no exception. It deals with the effects of child sex abuse. The story itself isn't graphic; there's no gratuitous violence here, and Block plays nothing for shock value. Instead, she delves into Barbie's emotional state before and after the abuse occurs. She submerges us in Barbie's world and lets us see her life through her eyes. The result is an intense, emotional read that cuts into your very soul.
The story is beautifully layered; each piece adds to what's come before to create a deep, complex story that packs a huge wallop despite its brevity. So often, I'd find that some careful turn of phrase illuminated Barbie's situation in such a way that I was sobbing before I realized it. Barbie starts off in a dark place, yes, but there's still so much beauty in here. So much beauty, and so much hope.
I highly recommend this, but please keep in mind that it may be triggering for some readers.
(This review also appears on my blog, Stella Matutina, albeit in a slightly different form).
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LibraryThing member Jenson_AKA_DL
Have you ever read a book that made you feel simultaneously both happy and sad at the end? This may be the first that accomplished it for me. This story is one told on different levels; one very true and traumatic and the other, supernatural, dreamlike and hopeful. Not many stories could pull it
On the surface this is a story about a girl named Barbie (yes, after the doll) whose mother's only dream is for her daughter to become the successful model she had failed to be. Just as Barbie's childhood feelings of aloneness become overwhelming, she discovers a new, if diminutive, fairy friend named Mab.
This is not your average innocent fairy tale. What has happened to the characters is unsettling and the repercussions are dealt with in a realistic manner, especially considering the vocations of the primary characters and the atmosphere they are in. These scenes are not presented gratuitously and really have meaning in the plot of the book.
I didn't really get the parts describing the cities as various types of women...well, I did in the beginning, but not so much closer to the end of the book. I did like all the characters from the melancholy Barbie and Griffin to the wisecracking Mab and even Todd whose sincerity I sometimes had to question. However, even though I liked them I still felt a little distanced from them. This could have been in part due to the dreamy and rather disconnected feeling that prevails throughout the book. Although I usually like to feel more personally involved with a book's characters, in this case it was kind of a relief considering the type of trauma the book deals with. I'm not really sure I would have felt comfortable with having any stronger feelings drawn from me.
As one last thought on the book I would have to say that I know that this is a fantasy, but it is a rather comforting thought that there could be Mabs available for all those children that need them. Not a book I’d suggest for tweens but a good one for mature and older teens.
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off but this one does it.On the surface this is a story about a girl named Barbie (yes, after the doll) whose mother's only dream is for her daughter to become the successful model she had failed to be. Just as Barbie's childhood feelings of aloneness become overwhelming, she discovers a new, if diminutive, fairy friend named Mab.
This is not your average innocent fairy tale. What has happened to the characters is unsettling and the repercussions are dealt with in a realistic manner, especially considering the vocations of the primary characters and the atmosphere they are in. These scenes are not presented gratuitously and really have meaning in the plot of the book.
I didn't really get the parts describing the cities as various types of women...well, I did in the beginning, but not so much closer to the end of the book. I did like all the characters from the melancholy Barbie and Griffin to the wisecracking Mab and even Todd whose sincerity I sometimes had to question. However, even though I liked them I still felt a little distanced from them. This could have been in part due to the dreamy and rather disconnected feeling that prevails throughout the book. Although I usually like to feel more personally involved with a book's characters, in this case it was kind of a relief considering the type of trauma the book deals with. I'm not really sure I would have felt comfortable with having any stronger feelings drawn from me.
As one last thought on the book I would have to say that I know that this is a fantasy, but it is a rather comforting thought that there could be Mabs available for all those children that need them. Not a book I’d suggest for tweens but a good one for mature and older teens.
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LibraryThing member megpyre
I didn't love this book at all. that being said i read it in two days and was 15 minutes late to work because i was sitting in my car reading the end of it. i felt the story was there, but the story telling didn't do it for me. i don't regret the time i spent reading it, but certainly will not pick
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it up again. Show Less
LibraryThing member MeganAngela
I don't know how many times I've started this review only to erase it and begin again. That's because it can be incredibly hard to review a book you loved growing up, especially when grown up you has realized that she doesn't really love the book anymore now that the rose-colored glasses have come
It's no secret that Francesca Lia Block is an amazing wordsmith. The way she weaves her words are the closest we'll ever come to IRL magic. However, as gorgeous as her prose may be, her storytelling can leave a lot to be desired. This is 100 percent the case with I Was a Teenage Fairy.
Francesca Lia Block's books are known for their ethereal quality and the way they grapple with big topics. However, the actual plots of her novels, including I Was a Teenage Fairy can be a bit sparse and confusing to the point where even writing a coherent synopsis would be difficult. And perhaps that is a purposeful stylistic choice that helps to enhance the novel's vague, dream-like world.
To me, though, it is frustrating as heck, especially when you have flashbacks with absolutely no setup or changing voices with no indicators as to when the change happened. Everything is abstract and disjointed, and I guess I just need a little more meat on dem bones to feel satisfied.
Look, this isn't the worst book, but it really could have done with a "kill your darlings" approach. Saved by Francesca Lia Block's spellbinding writing, I'm giving I Was a Teenage Fairy a 2.5 out of 5.
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off.It's no secret that Francesca Lia Block is an amazing wordsmith. The way she weaves her words are the closest we'll ever come to IRL magic. However, as gorgeous as her prose may be, her storytelling can leave a lot to be desired. This is 100 percent the case with I Was a Teenage Fairy.
Francesca Lia Block's books are known for their ethereal quality and the way they grapple with big topics. However, the actual plots of her novels, including I Was a Teenage Fairy can be a bit sparse and confusing to the point where even writing a coherent synopsis would be difficult. And perhaps that is a purposeful stylistic choice that helps to enhance the novel's vague, dream-like world.
To me, though, it is frustrating as heck, especially when you have flashbacks with absolutely no setup or changing voices with no indicators as to when the change happened. Everything is abstract and disjointed, and I guess I just need a little more meat on dem bones to feel satisfied.
Look, this isn't the worst book, but it really could have done with a "kill your darlings" approach. Saved by Francesca Lia Block's spellbinding writing, I'm giving I Was a Teenage Fairy a 2.5 out of 5.
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LibraryThing member hoosgracie
Barbie, a young girl, has a mother hell bent on Barbie being a model. Barbie doesn’t have much interest in it and a fairy named Mab helps her cope with her mother and the bad things that happen. Heartbreaking.
LibraryThing member thioviolight
This is the first book by Block that I read, and it caught my eye because of the beautiful cover. I'm so glad I did! This certainly wasn't the type of YA fiction I read when I was at that age, and I'm sorry I never read books like this. However, I'm really happy to discover Block's fiction, since
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they paint a different and truer world of young adults, even as she indulges in the fantastic. Wonderful! Show Less
LibraryThing member teharhynn
A very interesting story about being sexually assaulted as a child. This book didn't have quite the same writing style as wasteland, but it was still very interesting.
LibraryThing member mcgarry
Yr. 9 - Yr. 10. Maybe Mab was real. Maybe not. Maybe Mab was the fury. Maybe she was the courage. A tiny fairy winging her way through the jasmine-scented L.A. night. A little girl caught in a grown-up glitz-and-glitter world of superstars and supermodels. A too beautiful boy with a secret he can
This is the story of Barbie Marks, who dreams of being the one behind the Cyclops eye of the camera, not the voiceless one in front of it; who longs to run away to New York City where she can be herself, not some barley flesh-and-blood version of the plastic doll she was named after. It is the story of Griffin Tyler, whose androgynous beauty hides the dark pain he holds inside. And finally it is the story of Mab, a pinkie-sized, magenta-haired, straight-talking fairy, who may or may not be real but who helps Barbie and Griffin uncover the strength beneath the pain, and who teaches that love--like a sparkling web of light spinning around our bodies and our souls--is what can heal even the deepest scars.
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never share... This is the story of Barbie Marks, who dreams of being the one behind the Cyclops eye of the camera, not the voiceless one in front of it; who longs to run away to New York City where she can be herself, not some barley flesh-and-blood version of the plastic doll she was named after. It is the story of Griffin Tyler, whose androgynous beauty hides the dark pain he holds inside. And finally it is the story of Mab, a pinkie-sized, magenta-haired, straight-talking fairy, who may or may not be real but who helps Barbie and Griffin uncover the strength beneath the pain, and who teaches that love--like a sparkling web of light spinning around our bodies and our souls--is what can heal even the deepest scars.
Show Less
LibraryThing member faerielibrarian
This is the story of Barbie, named after the doll and forced to live in her image by her
overbearing, over tanned stage-mother. Barbie, after wishing on a picture of the girls who
photograph a fairy to see one herself, meets Mab, a spunky, crabby, opionated fairy who
flits around Barbie throughout
stength, as her father is nonexistant even when he was around, and her mother just tells
her that 'bad things sometimes happen' when she is molested by her headshot
photographer. This book is heavy and harsh but there is a layer of fairydust sparkling on
top of all of the city grime. In this fairytale ending, Barbie gets a new name and no longer
lives as her mother's doll.
overbearing, over tanned stage-mother. Barbie, after wishing on a picture of the girls who
photograph a fairy to see one herself, meets Mab, a spunky, crabby, opionated fairy who
flits around Barbie throughout
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the novel. Mab is the only thing Barbie has to give her her stength, as her father is nonexistant even when he was around, and her mother just tells
her that 'bad things sometimes happen' when she is molested by her headshot
photographer. This book is heavy and harsh but there is a layer of fairydust sparkling on
top of all of the city grime. In this fairytale ending, Barbie gets a new name and no longer
lives as her mother's doll.
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LibraryThing member benuathanasia
I really don't know how to most accurately describe Block's writing, so I'll write from my gut. Block's writing is like cocaine. Initially, all reasonable instincts tell me that the writing is not good. Once that reaction has passed, my brain says "Hmmm...let's just see where this goes." Pretty
Four years after I have kicked the Block habit, I still don't know what possessed me to read everything of Block's I could get my hands on. I don't remember particularly enjoying it, but I do remember that Block single-handedly helped get me through the roughest portions of high school.
Now, I know that my review is something of a back-handed compliment, but I will say this for Block; she is exceptionally imaginative and a vibrantly visual artist.
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soon, the little voices tell me I have to keep going, I could never forgive myself if I stopped...I... NEED...MORE!!! After I'm done with that, I keep going back to the library, for more...and more...and MORE!!! Four years after I have kicked the Block habit, I still don't know what possessed me to read everything of Block's I could get my hands on. I don't remember particularly enjoying it, but I do remember that Block single-handedly helped get me through the roughest portions of high school.
Now, I know that my review is something of a back-handed compliment, but I will say this for Block; she is exceptionally imaginative and a vibrantly visual artist.
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LibraryThing member etznab
This is a very difficult book to describe, both in terms of story and writing style. The language is vivid and engaging. But the writing also suffers from odd transitions and poorly explains the passage of time. The main character, Barbie is very shallow and I think it's difficult for the reader to
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feel empathy in anything more than a vague generality. Show Less
LibraryThing member swampygirl
While there was a lot of really good imagery sprinkled throughout the story, the edgy feel of the writing style did not match the actual content of the story at all. This left the book feeling overly censored, since the style seemed to be attempting to reach a more mature audience then the actual
I also felt like the author attempted to encompass to much story for such a short book - especially after the jump in time. The story was also not particularly coherent, and I felt like the ending came out of nowhere. That said, I don't think the ending she was setting up was all that much better, but I'm the silly person who actually finished reading it.
Overall one of the only redeeming factors to this book was that it was published before Tithe. So it is apparently not just a cheap ripoff.
Edit: Having now also read a couple of the Bordertowns books I can say this book is a silly redundancy that probably should never have happened. Well, live and learn.
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content would appeal to. I also felt like the author attempted to encompass to much story for such a short book - especially after the jump in time. The story was also not particularly coherent, and I felt like the ending came out of nowhere. That said, I don't think the ending she was setting up was all that much better, but I'm the silly person who actually finished reading it.
Overall one of the only redeeming factors to this book was that it was published before Tithe. So it is apparently not just a cheap ripoff.
Edit: Having now also read a couple of the Bordertowns books I can say this book is a silly redundancy that probably should never have happened. Well, live and learn.
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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
Barbie and Griffin both wrestle individually with memories of having been sexually molested by a photographer; Mab is the fairy whose love and encouragement gives them the confidence to confront their past. Magical and positive, not as dark as it sounds.
LibraryThing member EmScape
Barbie's mom lives vicariously through her fashion model daughter, subjecting Barbie to some dangerous, predatory people and causing her to take refuge in a friendship with a tiny fairy who maybe is or isn't there.
The writing here is sparse and ethereal and it's difficult to tell what actually is
The writing here is sparse and ethereal and it's difficult to tell what actually is
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or isn't happening. Maybe if I'd read this as a teenager myself, I'd have been more enamored of it because in a way it's pretty similar to some books I just adored at that age, including ones by this very author. Show Less
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Nominee — Children's/Young Adult — 1998)
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (Selection — 1999)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998
Physical description
192 p.; 4.5 inches
ISBN
0060277475 / 9780060277475
Local notes
young readers